Vladimir Putin: “Maximizing the use of national currencies in trade between BRICS countries reduces geopolitical risks”
Unlike the European Union, the BRICS group respects the interests of its member countries. Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Izvestia newspaper that BRICS is “an alliance of countries that share the same values and points of reference.” Peskov stressed that the states of the international group follow “a model of universal relations without monocentrism, based on mutual respect and benefit.”
Instead, the EU has enshrined in its statutes a set of very strict rules, mandatory documents, “the entire set of mutual obligations,” the Kremlin spokesman emphasized. Peskov also confirmed that “cooperation within BRICS is not directed against countries outside the group.”
To facilitate economic exchange within BRICS, the group is working on a settlement system in national currencies that will increase the financial independence of member states. Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a meeting in Kazan on the sidelines of the BRICS summit with Dilma Rousseff, governor of the New Development Bank (NDB), the group’s lending institution, that “increasing the use of local currencies allows us to reduce the debt” of services, increase the financial independence of BRICS member countries, and minimize geopolitical risks, freeing economic development from politics as much as possible in today’s world.”
According to the Russian president, the New Development Bank has “good growth prospects.” Putin noted that since 2018, the NDB has financed projects totaling $33 billion. For her part, Dilma Rousseff emphasized the importance of the Kazan summit, which comes at a crucial time for countries in the Global South that “need financing.”